What AI Journals Reveal about Student Learning

To celebrate the release of The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, I've interviewed a few of the faculty whose AI-aware teaching practices we highlight in the book, and I'm excited to share those interviews on the Intentional Teaching podcast this summer.

First up is Susan Ray, associate professor of English at Delaware County Community College (that's near Philadelphia, not in Delaware). Susan teaches a mix of on-site and online composition courses, and she's been redesigning her teaching for a few years now in response to generative AI.

In the book, we highlighted her AI-integrated syllabus activity. She asks her students at the start of a course to share the course syllabus with their AI chatbot of choice, then share a bit about themselves--their interests, their career plans, that kind thing. Then, using a custom prompt written by Susan, her students ask the AI to identify what aspects of the course they might enjoy, what they might find challenging, and how the course might help them grow. Then she asks her students to reflect on the AI response. She finds this activity incredibly helpful, not only for helping students find personal connections to the course but also to provide them with a healthy skepticism of AI, since the chatbot invariably provides advice that the student finds wrong.

In my conversation with Susan, we talk about that syllabus activity and about the AI transparency journals she asks her students to keep during her courses. Her students log any and all use of AI for coursework, and then at the end of the course reflect on their interactions with AI: How do you see your prompting evolving? Have your views on AI shifted? How will you use it differently in the future? Susan says, "These have been the richest writing responses I've had from my students."

We also talk about how her family background prepared her to navigate disruptions like Wikipedia, SparkNotes, and now generative AI in her teaching. Susan's an incredibly thoughtful and creative teacher, and I think you'll enjoy our conversation! And you should follow her on LinkedIn, where she regularly shares insight into teaching composition in this age of AI.

​You can listen to my interview with Susan Ray here or search "Intentional Teaching" in your podcast app.

Intentional Teaching's 100th Episode

My interview with Susan Ray is episode number 94 of the Intentional Teaching podcast, which means the podcast's 100th episode is coming up soon! And I would love your help making it a special one.

There are interviews I've aired on the podcast that I find myself referencing all the time in my work with faculty. All my guests are fantastic, of course, but some managed to share some piece of insight that has stuck with me, changing how I think about teaching and learning. And I bet, if you're a frequent listener, you have similar insights from past episodes that keep informing your work as an educator.

What I'd like to do for the 100th episode is a kind of clip show, where I share excerpts from the first 99 episodes featuring these powerful insights--and your comments about why those insights have stuck with you. So here's my ask: What's one idea or example or question from an Intentional Episode that you keep thinking about? Hit reply to this email and tell me about it! Or record a short voice memo on your phone and send it my way.

If I receive enough listener contributions of this sort, I'll build the 100th episode around your favorite moments of the podcast! Note that sending me an email or voice memo along these lines grants me permission to use it on the show. And since the 100th episode is scheduled for September 29th, let's set a deadline of September 15th for these contributions, so I have time for editing. Thanks!

The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching

My new book, The Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching, co-authored with Annette Vee and Marc Watkins, is now available as an ebook! It's available through major online retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It's also free for faculty who have adopted a W.W. Norton textbook, so if that's you, ask your Norton rep. If you want to wait for the paperback, it will be available in September 2026, and you can preorder it now.